


In Which The Sheriff Gets All Of The “Best Dad Ever” Coffee Mugs

by verucasalt123



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Awesome Sheriff Stilinski, Coming Out, Father-Son Relationship, Insecurity, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-01
Updated: 2013-11-01
Packaged: 2017-12-31 03:17:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1026618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/verucasalt123/pseuds/verucasalt123
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He did it on purpose, because he was afraid.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Which The Sheriff Gets All Of The “Best Dad Ever” Coffee Mugs

The Sheriff couldn’t have gotten his job were it not for his keen observation skills. Also, he was the world’s foremost expert on Stiles Stilinski.

Or so he thought.

It was obvious that his son just wasn’t himself today. No joking around, no rambling, just…well, quiet. Not a thoughtful or sad type of quiet, which the Sheriff had witnessed many times. A _surly_ type of quiet. That was a new one, and it wasn’t going to go unrecognized.

Even after asking, though, Stiles was hesitant to respond. His father pushed, though – he didn’t like to do it, didn’t think he had the right to know every thought that went through his son’s head – but this mood seemed to have a raw edge to it, something that wasn’t your run of the mill teen angst. 

Finally, Stiles looked up and said, “You remember that night at The Jungle? When you said I wasn’t gay?”

Of course he remembered that night, everything about it had been awful. But what the hell did Stiles’ little joke about his reason for being there have to do with anything?

“Yeah, and you said you _could_ be, which is ridiculous-”

Stiles cut him off there. “It’s not ridiculous, Dad. It’s true. Yes, I was trying to throw you off of what was really going on at the time, since you didn’t know about…things…yet. But I was telling the truth about that.”

Now the Sheriff was really stumped. He blinked a few times, took a couple of sips from his coffee mug, and appraised Stiles’ expression for any sign that his statement lacked veracity. All he saw there was a mix of hurt, confusion and anxiety.

There was no way Stiles should be apprehensive about sharing this information, his father thought. He must know it wouldn’t make him love his son any less, think of him differently, anything like that. But there he was, looking like he was afraid of what kind of reaction he would get.

Still. It just didn’t seem…

“What about Lydia?” was the first stupid thing to come out of the Sheriff’s mouth.

Stiles rolled his eyes. “Lydia and I were never together, you know that.”

“Yeah, everybody knows that. But you’ve been exceptionally vocal about how head over heels you are for her. Really. To everyone. All the time.”

With a half-smile, Stiles replied, “Yeah, but it worked, right? I mean, I was at the age where boys were noticing girls. If I never was interested in anyone, people were going to ask questions, or at least wonder. Assume. Whatever. That was the easiest way – pick someone who’d never date me in a million years and make sure everyone knew I was crazy about her.”

“But you weren’t.”

“Nope. Well, I mean, she’s awesome, there are a million wonderful things about Lydia, but I never wanted her, not like that.”

“You have friends that are gay, right? Like Danny? No one seems to have any problem with that, as far as I can tell.”

“I’m not Danny. Danny’s good looking and popular and everyone on the planet likes him. He could grow a second head and still be everyone’s favorite person.”

As the Sheriff took all this in, he started to feel terribly sad. His son had been hiding something that was a pretty big deal for a long damn time, and that must have been awful. At least…well, he was going to ask, he figured; he’d made enough assumptions already and it wasn’t even eight o’clock in the morning. 

“Does Scott know?” Stiles told Scott everything. And there was surely no way he thought his best friend would judge him for something like this.

Quietly, Stiles said, “No. I mean, maybe he suspects but I never told him. And I know what you’re going to say, but I’ve just never found the right time to bring it up.”

The next question was obvious. “So, why is now the _right time_? Is there someone – are you seeing somebody?”

Stiles sighed and said, “Kind of. Maybe. I don’t know. I think we like each other. No, I know I like him, I’m pretty sure he likes me. But neither of us have done anything about it yet.”

“You don’t have to tell me who it is, but you can, if you want.”

This time Stiles looked his father directly in the eye and said, “Isaac Lahey.”

Christ. Had to be a werewolf. Of course. But he seemed like a nice enough kid, despite the nightmare of a childhood he’d been subjected to. Didn’t get into much trouble and had been respectful on the few occasions they’d met in person. 

“All right”, the Sheriff replied, gathering all the fatherly love he could and hoping he could convey it to Stiles in his words and expression. “So, maybe you should tell him how you feel. If you’re wrong about him liking you, it’ll suck, but at least you’ll know. And if you’re right, well, then maybe you’ll be happy. And use your brain while you’re at it. I know this is hard, but you must realize your friends won’t give you a hard time about it. You have _good friends_ , Stiles, and you’re lucky to have them.”

Before he could blink, he found himself with an armful of relieved teenage boy. “You’re the one I’m lucky to have. Thanks, Dad. You’re the best, really, I mean it.”

“I know, son. It says so right here on my coffee mug.”


End file.
